Week 4: Courage

So when I started this challenge I got a total of 52 words, then I started placing them on different weeks.  Some of the dates will go with the word; some I tried to place to make myself stop and think…. I gotta say I thought this would be much easier than it is.  It will be really interesting as I get to the weeks and the assigned words in a few months because by then my rationale will not be as fresh in my mind and I see myself asking WTF did I do?  It makes no sense…. I give myself 2 more weeks to decide this was the stupidest challenge I could have thought of……But I gotta give myself props because it takes COURAGE to put yourself out there like this- set a goal loud enough for people to hear you and keep you accountable…. It takes courage to step outside your comfort zone, courage to talk about mental health challenges, courage to stand up for what you believe in even if it makes you the unpopular one, courage is truth to power….. But courage is not the absence of fear, rather its the awareness that something is more important than fear.  As with the first 3 words, I tried to look at the word from different aspects. I looked up quotes to find a way to connect to the word. This word was pretty easy for me to connect to- courage is easy to see in people. It has lots of quotes and memes. I have also been lucky enough to have a few heroes who showed a great deal of courage when faced with tremendous obstacles.

My favorite quote I found this week is from Brene Brown: “Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they are never a weakness”.  Courage is strength, and when I think of who is courageous, I automatically think of veterans and survivors, but the longer I mull it in my head, the more I think about how the rest of the people around me are a little more quietly courageous.  When I say quietly I am referring to their impact on me and the noise I feel. Some are loud and crashing-others are like quiet soft streams flowing. The level of noise I feel has nothing to do with the impact their courage has on me. In fact, two of the most courageous people I have ever met have the calming effect like a quiet stream, and the 2 others are noisy as a person can be. Courage can be quietly walking you through life, and you never realize how much you have, but others can see it.  Sometimes courage is noisy and in your face but so necessary to empower victims to become survivors- like the #MeToo movement. It takes courage to stand out or be different or talk about the raw shit in your life. I have noisy courage, I blab it all over the place, but my goal is quiet courage….. But considering my penchant for feeling my way through everything, I think my energy will always be noisy, and my people love me anyhow.  

I have so much to say about courageous people in my life, and when I started this, I was not sure how much of me I would share. I think it will change week-by-week.  I have had the privilege of having some extremely courageous people in my life. They have given me standards to strive for if I was ever faced with demons like theirs, and demons can come in so many forms from cancer to stigma.  I do think it is important to be aware of your own courage- whether it is beating stage 3 cancer or just taking that next breath- give yourself credit…. You made it and that took courage.